US7207049B2 - Disk drive device - Google Patents

Disk drive device Download PDF

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Publication number
US7207049B2
US7207049B2 US10/484,966 US48496604A US7207049B2 US 7207049 B2 US7207049 B2 US 7207049B2 US 48496604 A US48496604 A US 48496604A US 7207049 B2 US7207049 B2 US 7207049B2
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US
United States
Prior art keywords
tray
protective portion
body chassis
disk
drive device
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Fee Related, expires
Application number
US10/484,966
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English (en)
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US20040199928A1 (en
Inventor
Shoji Takahashi
Maki Wakita
Takuro Kohyama
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Citizen Holdings Co Ltd
Original Assignee
Citizen Watch Co Ltd
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Citizen Watch Co Ltd filed Critical Citizen Watch Co Ltd
Assigned to CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD. reassignment CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: KOHYAMA, TAKURO, TAKAHASHI, SHOJI, WAKITA, MAKI
Publication of US20040199928A1 publication Critical patent/US20040199928A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of US7207049B2 publication Critical patent/US7207049B2/en
Assigned to CITIZEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD. reassignment CITIZEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD. CHANGE OF NAME (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD.
Assigned to CITIZEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD. reassignment CITIZEN HOLDINGS CO., LTD. ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST (SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS). Assignors: CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD.
Adjusted expiration legal-status Critical
Expired - Fee Related legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G11—INFORMATION STORAGE
    • G11B—INFORMATION STORAGE BASED ON RELATIVE MOVEMENT BETWEEN RECORD CARRIER AND TRANSDUCER
    • G11B17/00—Guiding record carriers not specifically of filamentary or web form, or of supports therefor
    • G11B17/02—Details
    • G11B17/04—Feeding or guiding single record carrier to or from transducer unit
    • G11B17/05—Feeding or guiding single record carrier to or from transducer unit specially adapted for discs not contained within cartridges
    • G11B17/053—Indirect insertion, i.e. with external loading means
    • G11B17/056—Indirect insertion, i.e. with external loading means with sliding loading means

Definitions

  • the present invention relates to a disk drive device for driving an information recording disk such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital video disk (DVD) loaded onto it and reading and writing information out of and into the disk.
  • an information recording disk such as a compact disk (CD) or a digital video disk (DVD) loaded onto it and reading and writing information out of and into the disk.
  • CD compact disk
  • DVD digital video disk
  • a disk drive device is built into a parent apparatus, such as a small computer.
  • a first example of such conventional disk drive device will be below described below with reference to FIG. 8 . This example is disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-138296.
  • the disk drive device consists of a body chassis 102 to be fitted to a small computer and a tray 103 on which a disk is to be loaded. To the left side wall of the tray 103 is fitted a left slider 140 , and near the right end of the under face of the tray 103 is fitted a right slider 141 .
  • a left slider rail 150 is formed on the left side wall of the body chassis 102 , and a right slider rail 151 , on the right side wall of the same.
  • a stage 106 protrudes horizontally outwards from the upper end of the right side wall of the body chassis 102 .
  • the top face of the stage 106 is positioned higher than the central bottom face of the body chassis 102 .
  • the disk protective portion 111 of the tray 103 is in a rectangular shape large enough to cover the whole area of the under face of the disk. However, in a state in which the tray 103 is fully pulled out of the body chassis (in an unloaded position), there is a slight gap between the rear edge of the disk protective portion 11 (the edge on the body chassis side) and the front end of the body chassis 102 (the edge on the tray side). This gap is intended to prevent the disk, when it is unloaded from or loaded onto the tray 103 , from hitting the body chassis 102 .
  • the disk drive device consists of a body chassis 202 fitted to a small computer and a rail tray 203 on which a disk is to be loaded.
  • the tray 203 is supported by the body chassis 202 to be movable in the A-B direction.
  • the body chassis 202 protrudes a stage 216 outwards horizontally.
  • the top face of the stage 216 is positioned higher than the central bottom face of the body chassis 202 .
  • the disk protective portion 211 of the tray 203 is provided only in the area between the left and right movable side rails 206 , and the outer (right) side of the right rail 206 is cut off. This absence of the disk protective portion 211 outside the right rail 206 eliminates the overlapping of the stage 216 and the disk protective portion 211 when the tray 203 is pressed into the body chassis 202 , and results in the advantage that the disk drive device can be reduced in height.
  • the portion of the disk loaded on the tray 203 outside the right rail 206 i.e. the portion overlapping the stage 216
  • the width of the disk protective portion 211 is smaller than the full diameter of the disk, the strength of the tray 203 is weakened.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide a low profile disk drive device which allows a tray to be smoothly inserted into a body chassis.
  • a disk drive device has a body chassis and a tray slidable between a first state in which it is drawn out of the body chassis and a second state in which it is pressed into the body chassis.
  • a bottom plate constituting the body chassis has a stage, at one side thereof, formed higher than the central portion thereof, and the tray has a protruding protective portion in its position vertically overlapping the stage when pressed into the body chassis. The end of the protruding protective portion on the body chassis side is partly cut so that, when the tray is drawn out of the body chassis, a gap be formed between the tray and the end of the body chassis on the tray side.
  • a disk drive device has a body chassis and a tray made slidable by a guide rail mechanism between a first state in which it is drawn out of the body chassis and a second state in which it is pressed into the body chassis.
  • the tray is provided with a tray base and a disk protective portion
  • the guide rail mechanism is provided with chassis side guide rails arranged on the left and right sides of the body chassis and tray side guide rails arranged on the left and right sides of the tray base.
  • the disk protective portion comprises a main protective portion corresponding to the area between the left and right tray side guide rails and a protruding protective portion protruding from the right tray side guide rail farther outwards.
  • main protective portion and protruding protective portion cover at least the whole area of the under face of the disk loaded on disk.
  • the end of the protruding protective portion on the body chassis side is partly cut out so that, when the tray is drawn out of the body chassis, a gap be formed between the tray and the end of the body chassis on the tray side.
  • An end of the protruding protective portion is either cut out along the outer circle of the disk loaded on the tray or partly cut out in an inclined or curved shape.
  • a gap is formed between the end of the protruding protective portion and the end of the body chassis on the tray side.
  • the whole under face of the disk is protected by the disk protective portion and, at the same time, the tray can be easily drawn out of or pressed into the body chassis.
  • the rear end of the disk protective portion provided on the tray side is structurally prevented from hitting against the front end of the stage of the body chassis, thereby enabling the disk protective portion to smoothly ride on the stage of the body chassis.
  • FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a disk drive device, which is a preferred embodiment of the present invention
  • FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the disk drive device of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 3 shows the disk drive device of FIG. 1 viewed from underneath, wherein the tray is fully drawn out of the body chassis and in a state to permit loading or unloading a disk onto or from it (in an unloaded position);
  • FIG. 4 shows a B-B section of FIG. 1 ;
  • FIG. 5 shows the disk drive device of FIG. 1 in a state wherein the tray is pressed in over the body chassis (in a loaded position);
  • FIG. 6 shows a section of a left side one, out of the left and right guide mechanisms which enable the tray shown in FIG. 5 to be drawn out of or pressed into the body chassis;
  • FIG. 7 shows a section of the right side guide mechanism
  • FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of a first example of conventional disk drive device
  • FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of a second example of conventional disk drive device.
  • a disk drive device 1 is provided with a body chassis 2 and a tray 3 as shown in FIG. 1 .
  • the body chassis 2 produced by pressing a steel sheet, consists of a top plate 2 a and a bottom plate 2 b.
  • the right side wall 5 consists of a first right side wall 5 c rising from an end of the bottom face of the bottom plate 5 a , a stage 6 extending horizontally outwards (rightwards) from the upper end of a first right side wall 5 c , and a second right side wall 5 d rising from the tip of the stage 6 .
  • the left side wall 9 of the top plate 2 a engages with the left side wall 4 of the bottom plate 2 b
  • the right side wall 10 of the top plate 2 a engages with the second right side wall 5 d of the bottom plate 2 b.
  • chassis side guide rails 7 and 8 To the inner side faces of the left side wall 4 and the first right side wall 5 c of the bottom plate 2 b are fitted guide rails (hereinafter referred to as chassis side guide rails) 7 and 8 .
  • the tray 3 consists of a synthetic resin-made disk protective portion 11 and a synthetic resin-made tray base 12 supporting the disk protective portion 11 .
  • the disk protective portion 11 consists of an underside protective portion 11 a for protecting the immediate underneath of a disk 14 and a peripheral protective portion 11 b protecting the outer circumference of the disk 14 .
  • the underside protective portion 11 a has a circular area slightly greater in diameter than the disk 14 .
  • a level difference is provided between the peripheral protective portion 11 b and the underside protective portion 11 a and, when the disk 14 is placed over the underside protective portion 11 a , the top face of the peripheral protective portion 11 b comes to a higher position than the top face of the disk 14 .
  • a metallic thread chassis 13 is built into the tray base 12 .
  • the thread chassis 13 is provided with a turntable 16 for holding the disk 14 , a motor (not shown) for rotationally driving the turntable 16 , ahead shifting mechanism (not shown) for shifting a head 28 and so forth.
  • the power and control signals for driving these motor and shifting mechanism are transmitted by a flexible flat cable 31 connected to the main circuit board 30 on the body chassis 2 side.
  • the disk 14 As a slight gap is formed between the disk 14 and the underside protective portion 11 b when the disk 14 is loaded on the turntable 16 , the disk 14 , when it turns, does not come into contact with the underside protective portion 11 b.
  • unloaded position When the tray 3 is fully drawn out of the body chassis 2 to position the disk 14 at a position (hereinafter referred to as unloaded position) where it can be unloaded from the turntable 16 , there is formed a certain gap p between the rear end 11 c of the disk protective portion 11 (the end on side of the body chassis 2 ) and the front end 2 c of the body chassis 2 opposite thereto as shown in the underside view of FIG. 3 .
  • This arrangement is intended to prevent the disk 14 from hitting any end of the body chassis 2 when the disk 14 is loaded onto the tray 3 in the unloaded position or to unload the disk 14 from the tray 3 .
  • tray side guide rails 17 and 18 On the left and right sides of the tray base 12 are arranged guide rails (hereinafter referred to as tray side guide rails) 17 and 18 as shown in FIG. 2 .
  • the left guide rail 17 engages with the left chassis side guide rail 7 via an intermediate guide rail
  • the right guide rail 18 engages with the right chassis side guide rail 8 via another intermediate guide rail. The structure of these intermediate guide rails will be described afterwards.
  • the tray 3 can be slid in the direction of pressing it towards the chassis 2 or drawing it out of the chassis 2 .
  • the spacing between the tray side guide rails 17 and 18 fitted on the left and right sides of the tray base 12 is smaller than the diameter of the disk 14 . Therefore, when the disk 14 is so placed over the disk protective portion 11 that the tangent of its circle substantially coincide with the left guide rail 17 , part of the disk 14 protrudes from the right guide rail 18 farther outwards (rightwards) as shown in FIG. 3 .
  • the disk protective portion 11 were provided only between the left and right guide rails 17 and 18 , part of the underside of the disk 14 could not be protected by the disk protective portion 11 .
  • the disk protective portion 11 is extended beyond the space between the left and right tray side guide rails 17 and 18 farther outwards (rightwards) in order to protect the whole under face of the disk 14 .
  • the disk protective portion 11 consists of a portion corresponding to the area between the left and right tray side guide rails 17 and 18 (a main protective portion 19 ) and an extend portion (a protruding protective portion 20 ) protruding from the right tray side guide rail 18 farther outwards (rightwards).
  • the main protective portion 19 has a substantially rectangular shape.
  • the protruding protective portion 20 has a rectangular shape with its rear part (the part closer to the body chassis 2 ) cut out substantially along the outer circle of the disk 14 loaded on the tray 3 as shown in FIG. 3 .
  • the cut-out edge of the protruding protective portion 20 is denoted in FIG. 3 by reference sign 20 a.
  • This rear edge 20 a of the protruding protective portion has an arc shape substantially coinciding with the outer circumference of the disk 14 loaded on the turntable 16 . Therefore, when the tray 3 is in the unloaded position ( FIG. 3 ), the rear edge 20 a of the protruding protective portion 20 is ahead of the front end of the stage 6 farther than the distance p (the gap between the rear end 11 c of the main protective portion 19 of the disk protective portion 11 and the front end 2 c of the body chassis 2 opposite thereto), with the result that, when the tray 3 is in the unloaded position, a large space is formed between the edge 20 a of the protruding protective portion 20 and the front end 2 c of the body chassis 2 .
  • the protruding protective portion 20 of the disk protective portion 11 apart thereof constitutes the underside protective portion 11 a to protect the immediate underside of the disk 14 , and the rest makes up the peripheral protective portion 11 b to protect the outer circumference of the disk 14 .
  • the part of the protruding protective portion 20 immediately inside the rear edge 20 a constitutes the underside protective portion 11 a
  • its rear edge 20 a is provided with a side wall which gently curves upwards as shown in FIG. 4 and opposes an end face of the disk 14 .
  • the height of this side wall provided on the rear edge 20 a is substantially equal to the level difference between the underside protective portion 11 a of the disk protective portion 11 and the peripheral protective portion 11 b.
  • Reference numeral 21 denotes a hole to put a finger through, when a minidisk is mounted on the turntable 16 , to hook the finger on the outer circumference of the minidisk to load it onto or unload it from the turntable 16 .
  • the protruding protective portion 20 of the disk protective portion 11 is positioned above the stage 6 of the body chassis 2 as shown in FIG. 2 .
  • the disk drive device 1 has the following advantages, since (1) the rear edge 20 a of the protruding protective portion 20 extends obliquely forward and (2) a large space is formed between the rear edge 20 a of the protruding protective portion 20 and the front edge 2 c of the body chassis 2 as described above.
  • the protruding protective portion 20 approaches the stage 6 of the body chassis 2 , as the rear edge 20 extends obliquely forward in an arc shape, the rear edge 20 a in its whole does not become coincident with the front end 6 a of the stage 6 of the body chassis 2 at once.
  • the rear edge 20 a gradually shifts backwards beyond the front end 6 a of the stage 6 from its backward region towards the forward region. Therefore, the protruding protective portion 20 in the disk protective portion 11 can be smoothly superposed over the stage 6 of the body chassis.
  • this rear edge 20 a of the protruding protective portion 20 need not be an exact arc, but may be an inclined straight line or a curve close to an arc.
  • FIG. 5 shows a state wherein the tray 3 is pressed in over the body chassis 2 via the tray side guide rails 17 and 18 and the chassis side guide rails 7 and 8 (the loaded position).
  • the stage 6 in the bottom plate 2 b of the body chassis 2 is formed a space, wherein components of the computer into which the disk drive device 1 is to be incorporated are arranged.
  • chassis side guide rails 7 and 8 are formed.
  • protruding strips 40 a 1 , 40 a 2 , and 40 b 1 , 40 b 2 extending in the shifting direction of the tray are formed at the outside thereof.
  • the left wall face 12 a of the tray base 12 and the two protruding strips 40 a 1 and 40 a 2 formed thereon constitute the left tray side guide rail 17
  • the right wall face 12 b of the tray base 12 and the two protruding strips 40 b 1 and 40 b 2 formed thereon constitute the right tray side guide rail 18 .
  • These protruding strips 40 a 1 , 40 a 2 and 40 b 2 have tips bent in an L shape.
  • the left tray side guide rail 17 engages with the left chassis side guide rail 7 via a left intermediate guide rail 41
  • the right tray side guide rail 18 engages with the right chassis side guide rail 8 via a right intermediate guide rail 42 .
  • Both of these left and right intermediate guide rails 41 and 42 are extrusion-molded hard plastic products having a certain sectional shape.
  • the left intermediate guide rail 41 has on its outside a first engaging portion 41 a to engage with the left chassis side guide rail 7 and on its inside a second engaging portion 41 b to engaged with the protruding strips 40 a 1 and 40 a 2 constituting the left tray side guide rail 17 .
  • the right intermediate guide rail 42 has on its outside a first engaging portion 42 a to engage with the right chassis side guide rail 8 and on its inside a second engaging portion 42 b to engage with the protruding strips 40 b 1 and 40 b 2 constituting the tray side guide rail 18 .
  • the engagement of the L-shaped tip portion of the right chassis side guide rail 8 and the protruding strip 40 b 2 of the right tray side guide rail 18 , whose tip is L-shaped, with the groove portion formed in the right intermediate guide rail 42 results in a structure which forbids the right chassis side guide rail 8 and the right tray side guide rail 18 from becoming disengaged laterally.
  • the top face tq 1 of the first engaging portion 42 a of the right intermediate guide rail 42 is formed in a position lower than the top face tq 2 of the second engaging portion 42 b . This enables the stage 6 of the body chassis 2 engaged with the first engaging portion 42 a to be positioned sufficiently lower than the protruding protective portion 20 of the disk protective portion 11 placed above the second engaging portion 42 b.
  • an appropriate gap can be created without increasing the overall height of the disk drive device.
  • the right tray side guide rail 18 has a recess to engage with the second engaging portion 42 b of the right intermediate guide rail 42 .
  • the top portion of the recess is substantially equalized in height to the under face of (the protruding protective portion 20 of) the disk protective portion 11 of the tray 3 .
  • the top face tp 1 of the first engaging portion 41 a of the left intermediate guide rails 41 is formed in a position higher than the top face tp 2 of the second engaging portion 41 b .
  • the top face tp 1 of the first engaging portion 41 a and the under face of the top plate 2 a of the body chassis 2 there will be no particular problem even if the first engaging portion 41 a of this left intermediate guide rail 41 is slightly increased in height.

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  • Feeding And Guiding Record Carriers (AREA)
US10/484,966 2001-08-17 2002-08-06 Disk drive device Expired - Fee Related US7207049B2 (en)

Applications Claiming Priority (4)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
JP2001248132 2001-08-17
JP2001-248132 2001-08-17
JP2001316738 2001-10-15
PCT/JP2002/008012 WO2003017270A1 (fr) 2001-08-17 2002-08-06 Dispositif lecteur de disque

Publications (2)

Publication Number Publication Date
US20040199928A1 US20040199928A1 (en) 2004-10-07
US7207049B2 true US7207049B2 (en) 2007-04-17

Family

ID=26620625

Family Applications (1)

Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
US10/484,966 Expired - Fee Related US7207049B2 (en) 2001-08-17 2002-08-06 Disk drive device

Country Status (5)

Country Link
US (1) US7207049B2 (fr)
EP (1) EP1453047A4 (fr)
JP (1) JP4181990B2 (fr)
CN (1) CN1229797C (fr)
WO (1) WO2003017270A1 (fr)

Families Citing this family (5)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2002086883A1 (fr) * 2001-04-16 2002-10-31 Sony Corporation Element de retenu de disque, plateau a disque, dispositif d'enregistrement et/ou lecture et changeur de disque
US20060221801A1 (en) * 2003-08-26 2006-10-05 Koninklijke Philips Electronic N.V. Drive for disc shaped optical data carrier
JP2006127658A (ja) * 2004-10-29 2006-05-18 Orion Denki Kk トレイ搬送時の位置規制手段を備えたディスク装置
JP4283866B2 (ja) * 2005-11-18 2009-06-24 パイオニア株式会社 ディスク装置
TWI633769B (zh) 2006-05-11 2018-08-21 Ｃｆｐｈ股份有限公司 使用及管理電子檔案的方法和設備

Citations (6)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH07235111A (ja) 1994-02-23 1995-09-05 Teac Corp ディスク装置
JPH08138296A (ja) 1994-11-04 1996-05-31 Toshiba Corp ディスク再生装置及びディスク再生装置用ターンテーブル
JPH09223347A (ja) 1996-02-16 1997-08-26 Teac Corp トレーガイド機構
JP2002050103A (ja) * 2000-07-28 2002-02-15 Teac Corp 記録媒体装着装置
JP2003187511A (ja) * 2001-11-15 2003-07-04 Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 光ディスクドライブのトレーガイド構造体
US6910218B2 (en) * 2001-11-08 2005-06-21 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Slim type optical disc drive

Family Cites Families (1)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
DE19747362C2 (de) * 1997-10-24 2000-11-09 Doering Joseph Möbelstück aus Holz

Patent Citations (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
JPH07235111A (ja) 1994-02-23 1995-09-05 Teac Corp ディスク装置
JPH08138296A (ja) 1994-11-04 1996-05-31 Toshiba Corp ディスク再生装置及びディスク再生装置用ターンテーブル
JPH09223347A (ja) 1996-02-16 1997-08-26 Teac Corp トレーガイド機構
US6208605B1 (en) 1996-02-16 2001-03-27 Teac Corporation Tray guide mechanism for easy assembly of a disk drive
JP2002050103A (ja) * 2000-07-28 2002-02-15 Teac Corp 記録媒体装着装置
US6910218B2 (en) * 2001-11-08 2005-06-21 Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. Slim type optical disc drive
JP2003187511A (ja) * 2001-11-15 2003-07-04 Samsung Electronics Co Ltd 光ディスクドライブのトレーガイド構造体

Also Published As

Publication number Publication date
EP1453047A4 (fr) 2006-06-07
JP4181990B2 (ja) 2008-11-19
JPWO2003017270A1 (ja) 2004-12-09
US20040199928A1 (en) 2004-10-07
CN1229797C (zh) 2005-11-30
EP1453047A1 (fr) 2004-09-01
CN1476605A (zh) 2004-02-18
WO2003017270A1 (fr) 2003-02-27

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Owner name: CITIZEN WATCH CO., LTD., JAPAN

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